Information about a suspect or suspects was not immediately available, though witnesses reported seeing two to four men running from the scene, Abetkov said.

Witnesses said Plair was doing work for a resident in the front yard of their home when he was approached by multiple suspects and shot. It was not immediately known if anybody was inside of the home at the time of the shooting.

Minutes after the shooting, police cordoned off the area where Plair was shot, on Sixth Street just a few paces south of Pennsylvania Avenue. ShotSpotter technology had alerted officers to multiple shots fired in the area just as 911 calls began flooding in from neighborhood residents. Residents milling around the scene said they heard multiple gunshots. One woman, who declined to give her name, said the victim was working at a nearby park earlier in the day for a nonprofit group that rebuilds decaying public parks. Friends and family, some crying, huddled near the yellow police tape.

The killing is the city's second in 2013, down from five at this time last year.

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The first homicide of 2013 was Feb. 4, when police discovered William Wheeler, 26, shot dead about 3 a.m. at Lucas Park and Playground, just a few blocks east of Monday's slaying.

Both men were killed in the city's Iron Triangle Neighborhood, a community bound on three sides by railroad tracks and sitting just east of the Chevron refinery.

Monday's shooting occurred a block away from Peres Elementary School, and the school was locked down about 3:35 p.m. as a precaution, Abetkov said. School officials said the lockdown was lifted about 4:15 p.m.

Anyone with information about the incident may contact Detective Hector Esparza at 925-233-1214, or leave an anonymous tip at 510-232-TIPS.